At the age of 37, Matthew Stafford doesn’t have a lot of years left in the tank. His yardage and touchdown numbers have dipped in recent seasons, and his mobility’s looked shaky too. Now, with a back injury, LA Rams fans on Reddit are bracing for the worst, with some even preparing to draft his replacement.
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Stafford hurt his back during training camp on Monday. Originally, his head coach, Sean McVay, chalked it up to a bit of lingering soreness from the offseason. He downplayed the situation when first speaking to the media, saying Stafford would just do some work on the side while others got live reps.
But now, McVay seems to be walking those comments back. When he addressed the injury more recently, it sounded like a bigger deal than he thought it would be, despite his confidence in Stafford being able to return.
“He’s doing really well. We’ve got a good plan in place. We are going to take some more time with him, though. Nothing that’s changed in terms of the setback; I probably spoke a little bit too soon. But the ultimate goal is Houston [season opener], and being mindful of that. So, we’ll take it a week at a time,” McVay told the Rams media via Fansided.
The issue with back injuries is that they linger. This specific one could hamper Stafford throughout the entire season if it is that severe. It’s not the news that Rams fans wanted to hear.
Although, upon hearing the news, some football enthusiasts on Reddit didn’t sound too worried about the injury.
“I would be shocked if Stafford isn’t the starter week 1. This seems similar to his elbow issue last year, which became a non-factor,” one wrote.
“IDK why anyone thinks this is indicative of an actual issue. Stafford has been in the league since 2009. He gets very little out of TC at this point in his career and might as well just rest and take it easy,” another argued.
On the other hand, some fans hoped that the Rams had a backup plan for 2026 in case Stafford’s back issue turns out to be more serious.
“Rams better have QB plans for 2026 and beyond,” a fan pleaded.
“We have two firsts in 2026 and it’s a deepish class,” someone responded.
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All in all, it was a surprisingly tame discussion. Everyone is writing this one off as the usual case of an older quarterback sitting out training camp to rehab an injury, only to slot in as the Week 1 starter, like they always have. We’ve seen it many, many times before.
But that doesn’t mean LA isn’t being proactive about Stafford. After all, he is almost done with his career. It would be foolish not to look into potential successors for him. That’s why the team has reportedly set its sights on Arch Manning in the 2026 Draft.
“The Rams are infatuated with [Arch] Manning’s combination of size, throwing ability and athleticism. In fact, they could take him in the first round — if he enters the draft and is available at the Rams’ selection — even if Stafford returns to Los Angeles for the second year of his contract,” according to Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports.
Of course, that’s all dependent on how this upcoming season goes for Arch. If he has a stellar run, he’ll probably be out of the Rams’ reach. And if he underperforms relative to expectations, he could fall off their board.
That’s all to say there’s still a lot of time between now and then. The next quarterback draft class is fairly deep beyond just Arch, too. There’s Garrett Nussmeier, Cade Klubnik, LaNorris Sellers, Drew Allar, and many more. So, if the Rams want to find Stafford’s replacement, the 2026 Draft class might be their best window of opportunity.
